How to identify the right funding for your research

Learn the best places for early career researchers in neuroscience, psychiatry and psychology to look for project funding.

Grant funding sources can be internal (available from your institution, e.g. as part of your degree or research post via your supervisor or via pre-existing departmental funds) or external. So check for funding opportunities both within your institution and outside of it; funds can sometimes be found from surprising sources.

Within your institution:

Check on your departmental website and ask other people in your department. Speak with your supervisor (if applicable), head of department and other researchers who already have grants.

Contact your department’s research grant administrator, if available. These individuals can be invaluable in highlighting research funding opportunities and in assisting with budgeting and grant application submissions.

Check if your institution has a Research Strategy Office. If so, this is a useful resource which is likely to have a website with a comprehensive list of funding opportunities.

Consider whether any ‘matched funding’ or ‘part funding’ opportunities exist within your academic institution. For example, if you obtain grant money from an external source such as a charity, are there any internal funding streams that could contribute on top of this? These types of matched funding schemes are more common for equipment purchases that will give ‘added value’ for the department (i.e. if their use extends beyond you as an individual researcher).

Beyond your institution:

Look on websites of funding bodies – these provide outlines of available grants, deadlines and more general advice. Some also allow you to register for bulletin emails.

The MRC and many other funding bodies have RSS feeds or mailing lists that are worth subscribing to in order to be updated when new funding calls are released, as well as to receive updates from the research office.

Register and become a member of relevant professional organisations, and check their websites. These organisations often run their own conferences and grants, and can provide useful networking opportunities.

Worldwide, many charities provide funding for research projects and run conferences, workshops and networking events throughout the year, find relevant charities in your field of research to sign up to their updates on funding, events and research news.